Container for liquids and means for discharging liquids therefrom



May 27, 1969 w. LOF'FLER 3,445,867

CONTAINER FOR LIQUIDS AND MEANS FOR DISCHARGING LIQUIDS THEREFROM Filed July 21.. 1966 FIG. 1

INVENTOR WALTHER LOFFLER United States Patent 3,445,867 CONTAINER FOR LIQUIDS AND MEANS FOR DISCHARGING LIQUIDS THEREFROM Walther Lofller, Friedrich-Ebert-Str. 43, Markkleeberg- Mitte Bezirk, Leipzig, Germany Filed July 21, 1966, Ser. No. 566,897 Int. Cl. E03c 1/26 US. Cl. 4-288 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A drainage assembly for tubs and the like, enabling the drain pipes to be cleaned effectively. A valve seat which is adapted to receive a valve or a plug to close a drainage outlet is connected with a discharge pipe by a connecting means which is in turn releasably connected with the discharge pipe by a retaining means. This retaining means includes bayonet slots or threaded bosses situated at diametrically opposed parts of the discharge pipe to releasably hold the connecting means operatively engaged with the discharge pipe. When the connecting means is removed, the valve seat can be removed, and the location of the retaining means at the diametrically opposed regions of the drainage pipe gives free access to the interior of the latter for cleaning purposes.

The present invention relates to liquid containers and in particular to structure for discharging liquid from a container in which it is situated.

Thus, the present invention is particularly applicable to basins, such as wash basins, tubs, such as bathtubs, and the like.

As is well known, containers of this latter type include a suitable receptacle for the liquid, this receptacle having a lower portion formed with an outlet through which liquid is discharged from the receptacle. It is conventional to provide at this outlet of the receptacle a valve seat which is adapted to receive a suitable valve or plug by means of which the outlet can be closed for retaining liquid in the receptacle. When the valve or plug is displaced from the valve seat, the liquid can flow out of the receptacle. For this purpose a discharge pipe is situated beneath the valve seat and has an upper open end directed toward the valve seat to receive liquid which fiows through the latter and thus through the outlet of the receptacle. In order to retain the valve seat properly positioned at the outlet of the receptacle, it is conventional to provide the discharge pipe, at the region of its upper open end, with a cross bar receiving a screw member which serves to releasably fix the valve seat in position at the outlet of the receptacle. When it is desired to clean the structure, the screw member can be removed so as to permit the valve seat to be removed, and then access may be had to the discharge pipe for cleaning the latter, for "example, or for any other purpose. However, the cross bar remains permanently fixed with an extending across the hollow interior of the discharge pipe so that for this reason access to the space in the pipe beneath the cross bar with a suitable cleaning brush or the like, for example, is rendered very difiicult. Therefore, cleaning either cannot be carried out or can be carried only under particularly unfavorable circumstances.

If is accordingly a primary object of the present invention to provide a structure of the above general type which will give free, unobstructed access to the interior of the discharge pipe.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a structure of the above type in which the elements are protected against ill effects from the liquid.

Also, it is an object of the present invention to provide a construction which is exceedingly simple and inexpensive and which lends itself without difiiculty to manipulations by inexperienced housewives and the like, enabling them without difliculty to disassemble and reassemble the parts, so that the average individual without any particular plumbing experience can easily disassemble and reassemble the structure of the invention, thus obtaining very quickly and easily, access to the discharge pipe for cleaning or other purposes.

In accordance with the present invention the liquid receptacle has a lower portion formed with an outlet through which liquid can discharge from the receptacle, and a.valve seat rests on the outlet and is adapted to receive a valve or plug which can close the outlet so as to retain liquid in the receptacle. Upon displacement of the valve or plug from the valve seat the liquid discharges out through the valve seat and thus through the outlet in which the valve seat is located. Situated beneath the valve seat is a discharge pipe which has an upper open end directed toward and spaced beneath the valve seat, and this discharge pipe has a wall surrounding the axis of the pipe which extends upwardly through the valve seat itself. In accordance with the present invention a connecting means releasably connects the valve seat to the discharge pipe, and the connecting means is itself releasably retained in operative connection with the discharge pipe at the region of the upper open end thereof by way of a releasable retaining means situated exclusively at the pipe wall surrounding and spaced from the axis thereof, so that with this construction the releasable connecting means and releasable retaining means for the latter can be actuated to release the valve seat while giving unobstructed free access to the interior of the discharge pipe because of the location of the retaining means only at the wall of the pipe spaced from the pipe axis. Thus, when the valve seat and the structure connecting the latter to the pipe are removed, there is nothing toextend across the interior of the pipe to render access thereto difiicult.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings which form part of this application and in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary sectional elevation of the lower part of the liquid receptacle, the section of FIG. 1 being taken in a plane which includes the axis of the discharge pipe, and FIG. 1 illustrates the structure in the region of the outlet of the liquid receptacle;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the structure of FIG. 1 after the valve seat has been removed;

FIG. 3 is a sectional elevation, also taken in a plane which includes the axis of the discharge pipe, FIG. 3 also illustrating, in another embodiment of the invention, the lower portion of a liquid receptacle, and in particular the structure at the outlet thereof;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the structure of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the structure of FIG. 3 taken in a horizontal plane which is beneath the valve seat but above the discharge pipe which is spaced from and situated beneath the valve seat.

Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows the upper open end of a discharge pipe 1, this discharge pipe having in the illustrated example a vertical axis and having a tubular wall surrounding this axis. This tubular Wall is shown in section in FIG. 1. FIG. 1 also illustrates the lower portion of a liquid receptacle 4, which can be any wash basin, bathtub, or the like, and the receptacle 4 has an outlet 3 through which liquid can be discharged from the receptacle 4. This outlet 3 extends downwardly from the lower portion of the receptacle 4 and terminates in an opening through which the upper open end of the pipe 1 extends, in the manner illustrated in FIG. 1. This upper open end of the pipe 1 terminates in an outwardly directed flange which rests on a surface which surrounds the lower portion of the outlet 3, and the pipe 1 is exteriorly threaded beneath the flange 10 to receive a lock nut 2 which together with a suitable washer serves to fix the pipe 1 in the position shown in FIG. 1 clamping between the flange 10 and the nut 2 that part of the outlet 3 which extends beneath the flange 10, in the manner shown in FIG. 1.

A valve seat 9 rests on the outlet 3 of the receptacle 4 at the upper end of the outlet 3, in the manner shown in FIG. 1, and a connecting means is provided for releasably connecting the valve seat 9 to the upper open end of the discharge pipe 1. The valve seat 9 is adapted to receive a plug or valve in the manner shown in FIG. 1 for the purpose of closing the outlet of the receptacle 4, and when this plug or valve is displaced from the valve seat 9 the liquid can of course discharge out of the receptacle 4.

The connecting means for releasably connecting the valve seat 9 with the pipe 1 includes a perforated plate which is fixed in a conventional manner to the valve seat 9, extending across the interior thereof so as to prevent foreign bodies from dropping into the pipe 1, as is well known. This perforated plate is formed with a central opening in which a screw 8 of the connecting means is turnable in the manner indicated in FIG. 1, and the bottom threaded shank portion of the screw 8 is threadedly received in a threaded bore of a cross bar 7 which is connected at its opposite ends to the pipe 1.

In accordance with the present invention this connecting means formed by the elements 7 and 8, as well as the perforated transverse plate portion of the valve seat 9, is releasably retained in operative connection with the pipe 1 by a suitable releasable retaining means. In the example of FIGS. 1 and 2, this releasable retaining means is constituted by opposed wall portions of the pipe 1 which are respectively formed with L-shaped bayonet slots 6 having upper open ends, or axially extending grooved portions 5, into which the opposed ends of the bar 7 can be received. When these opposed ends of the bar 7 reach the bottom ends of the portions 5, the bar 7 can be turned in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 2, so as to be releasably retained by the bayonet grooves in operative connection with the pipe 1.

Thus, with this construction the screw 8 can be turned by the operator to release the screw 8 from the bar 7 and thus release the valve seat 9 from the receptacle 4, and then the operator can simply turn the bar 7 in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 2, until its ends are aligned with the bayonet portions 5, after which the bar can be removed, thus giving free unobstructed access to the interior of the pipe 1.

As is apparent from FIG. 1, the receptacle 4 is provided with a conventional overflow passage 17 through which overflow liquid can reach the space between the valve seat 9 and the upper end of the pipe 1, so as to flow out through the latter, and a suitable apertured plate or other sieve structure can be suspended from the transverse bar 7 and situated in the region of the upper end of the pipe 1 so as to prevent any foreign bodies from flowing through the pipe 1 together with overflow liquid which reaches the pipe 1 through the overflow passage 17.

Of course, instead of a simple cross bar 7 it is also possible to use a pair of intersecting cross bars which have an X-shaped configuration, or a simple perforated plate which forms a sieve and which has a pair of opposed peripheral projections to be received in the bayonet grooves 6 can be provided. Of course, the retaining means of the invention is not limited to the particular bayonet connection shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. For example, the cross bar, or the pair of intersecting cross bars, or even the perforated plate or sieve can simply rest on the flange 10 and be situated beneath hooks or beneath the heads of screws which are threaded into the flange 10, for example. In this case, of course, the screw 8 is threaded to the single or intersecting cross bars or to the apertured plate which is releasably fixed to the flange 10, resting on the latter, and it would be the hooks or the screw heads which form the releasable retaining means of the invention with such a construction.

In the additional embodiment of the invention which is illustrated in FIGS. 3-5, the opposed wall portions of the pipe 1 at which the retaining means is situated are enlarged to form a pair of bosses or projections 11, and these opposed wall portions 11 of the pipe 1 are formed with vertical threaded bores 12 passing therethrough and forming the releasable retaining means of this embodiment. The connecting means for fixing the valve seat 9 in its position in the outlet 3 of the receptacle 4, in the embodiment of FIGS. 3-5, takes the form of a pair of screws 13 situated at diametrically opposed parts of the apertured plate 14 which extends across and is fixed to the valve seat 9. (Of course, a similar plate is fixed to the valve seat 9 of FIG. 1.) The pair of screws 13 are freely turnable in the diametrically opposed openings of the plate 14, and they have lower threaded shank portions received in the threaded bores 12, so that in this way the connecting means formed by the screws 13 and the plate 14 has a releasable operative connection with the pipe 1 provided by way of the releasable retaining means formed by the opposed wall portions 11 and in particular by the threaded bores 12 thereof. In order to protect the screws 13, they extend through sleeves 15 which in the illustrated example are fixed to and project from the valve seat, and in particular from the underside of the apertured plate 14. Of course, instead of fixing the sleeves 15 to the valve seat 9, it is possible for them to be fixed to the opposed wall portions 11 of the pipe 1 and to project upwardly therefrom to receive the screws 13, respectively.

Situated in the region of the upper open end of the pipe 1 is an additional apertured plate 16 which forms a sieve to prevent foreign bodies from entering into the pipe 1 from the overflow passage 17, and this sieve 16 is formed at diametrically opposed portions with notches into which the bosses or projections 11 extend in the manner shown in FIG. 5. FIG. 4 illustrates the manner in which the screws 13 are arranged on the apertured plate 14 in the region of the valve seat 9.

In order to mount the second apertured plate or sieve 16 in the position shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, a rod 18 is fixed at its top end to plate 14 and at its bottom end to the plate 16, so that this rod 18 extends between and is fixed to both of the apertured plates for mantaining the lower plate 16 at the location indicated in FIG 3. The axis of the rod 18 coincides with the axis of the pipe 1.

Thus, while the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, after the screw 8 of the connecting means is removed from the bar 7, the latter can be easily removed from the pipe 1 as a result of the retaining means formed by the bayonet construction, with the embodiment of FIGS. 3-5 the retaining means 11 does not maintain part of the connecting means assembled with the pipe 1 after the valve seat 9 is removed, since immediately upon disconnecting the screws '13 from the retaining means 11 the entire valve seat together with the entire connecting means can be removed from the pipe 1, and all of the structure, including the lower sieve 16, is removed as a unit, giving immediate unobstructed access to the interior of the pipe 1. Therefore, the embodiment of FIGS. 3-5 is particularly simple to manipulate. It is no problem for lay people to manipulate both of the disclosed embodiments so as to have, without any difliculty, free access to the interior of the pipe 1.

What is claimed is:

1. A liquid container comprising a receptacle adapted to receive liquid and having a lower portion formed with an outlet through which liquid can flow out of said receptacle, a valve seat resting on said outlet and adapted to receive a valve or plug for closing the outlet, so that upon displacement of the valve or plug from the valve seat, liquid can discharge out of said receptacle through said valve seat and thus through said outlet, a discharge pipe situated beneath said valve seat, said pipe having a top open end directed toward said valve seat and said pipe having an axis extending through said top open end and through said valve seat, said pipe having a wall surrounding and spaced from said axis. connecting means releasably connecting said valve seat to said pipe so as to releasably fix said valve seat in its location at said outlet, and retaining means releasably retaining said connecting means in operative connection with said pipe and located only at portions of said wall thereof, spaced outwardly beyond the pipe axis, so that when said connecting means is actuated to disconnect said valve seat from its location at said outlet said retaining means will release said connecting means from said pipe so as to provide clear unobstructed access to the interior of said pipe at its open end in the region surrounding its axis, thus rendering the interior of the pipe, even beyond said retaining means, easily accessible for cleaning or other purposes said connecting means for releasably connecting said valve seat to said pipe including a perforated plate fixed to and extending across said valve seat, a rotary screw turnably carried by said plate and extending therefrom into the upper open end of said pipe, and a transverse bar having a threaded portion receiving said rotary screws and having opposed ends connected with said pipe, said retaining means including a pair of opposed wall portions of said pipe formed with bayonet grooves which respectively receive said opposed ends of said bar.

2. A liquid container comprising a receptacle adapted to receive liquid and having a lower portion formed with an outlet through which liquid can flow out of said receptacle, a valve seat resting on said outlet and adapted to receive a valve or plug for closing the outlet, so that upon displacement of the valve or plug from the valve seat, liquid can discharge out of said receptacle through said valve seat and thus through said outlet, a discharge pipe situated beneath said valve seat, said pipe having a top open end directed toward said valve seat and said pipe havng an axis extending through said top open end and through said valve seat, said pipe having a wall surrounding and spaced from said axis, connecting means releasably connecting said valve seat to said pipe so as to releasably fix said valve seat in its location at said outet, and retaining means releasably retaining said connecting means in operative connection with said pipe and located only at portions of said wall thereof, spaced outwardly beyond the pipe axis, so that when said connecting means is actuated to disconnect said valve seat from its location at said outlet said retaining means will release said connecting means from said pipe so as to provide clear unobstructed access to the interior of said pipe at its open end in the region surrounding its axis, thus rendering the interior of pipe, even beyond said retaining means, easily accessible for cleaning or other purposes, said connecting means including a perforated plate fixed to and extending across said valve seat, a pair of rotary screws carried by said plate at diametrically opposed portions thereof and extending into said upper end of said pipe where said screws are connected to said pipe, said retaining means including diametrically opposed wall portions of said pipe in the region of said upper end thereof respectively formed with threaded bores receiving said screws for releasably retaining the latter connected with said pipe and a pair of sleeves respectively surrounding said screws so that the latter extend through said sleeves.

3. The combination of claim 2 and wherein said sleeves are fixed to said perforated plate and extend therefrom to the region of said wall portions of said pipe.

4. A liquid container comprising a receptacle adapted to receive liquid and having a lower portion formed with an outlet through which liquid can flow out of said receptacle, a valve seat resting on said outlet and adapted to receive a valve or plug for closing the outlet, so that upon displacement of the valve or plug from the valve seat, liquid can discharge out of said receptacle through said valve seat and thus through said outlet, a discharge pipe situated beneath said valve seat, said pipe having a top open end directed toward said valve seat and said pipe having an axis extending through said top open end and through said valve seat, said pipe having a wall surrounding and spaced from said axis, connecting means releasably connecting said valve seat to said pipe so as to releasably fix said valve seat in its location at said outlet, and retaining means releasably retaining said connecting means in operative connection with said pipe and located only at portions of said wall thereof, spaced outwardly beyond the pipe axis, so that when said connecting means is actuated to disconnect said valve seat from its location at said outlet said retaining means will release said connecting means from said pipe so as to provide clear unobstructed access to the interior of said pipe at its open end in the region surrounding its axis, thus rendering th interior of the pipe, even beyond said retaining means, easily accessible for cleaning or other purposes said connecting means including a perforated plate fixed to and extending across said valve seat, a pair of rotary screws carried by said plate at diametrically opposed portions thereof and extending into said upper end of said pipe where said screws are connected to said pipe, said retaining means including diametrically opposed wall portions of said pipe in the region of said upper end thereof respectively formed with threaded bores receiving said screws for releasably retaining the latter connected with said pipe and said receptacle having an overflow passage communicating with the space between said valve seat and said upper end of said pipe, a second perforated plate situated at the region of said upper end of said pipe extending across the latter to receive liquid from said overflow passage, and a rod extending between and connecting said perforated plates to each other.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,059,748 4/1913 Mueller et al. 4288 1,253,406 1/1918 McNeil 4288 X 2,859,452 11/1958 Seewack 4288 X 2,896,223 7/1959 Treslo 4286 PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner. 

